346 days from now

What if you knew that in exactly 346 days from now you were going to die, how would it affect you? What could you do differently about the way you life your life today and for the next 345 days to follow?

Share your thoughts here in my blog.

Niko

Perfect Health

Someone forwarded this to me, thought I would pass it along…

What Is Perfect Health?

Health isn’t merely the absence of disease or symptoms; it is a higher state of consciousness that allows well-being, creativity, and joy to flow into our experience. We are healthy when we’re able to fully digest everything we take in, extracting what is nourishing and eliminating whatever doesn’t serve us. This includes our food, our relationships, our jobs, and all our life experiences. Illness, in contrast, develops when there is a disruption ― a blockage in the flow of energy and information. Symptoms and sickness are the body’s signal that we need to restore balance, eliminate whatever is causing the blockages, and reestablish the healthy flow of intelligence.

One of most powerful ways we can influence our health is through our choices and interpretations . . . the food we choose, the relationships we engage in, the sensory input we expose ourselves to, and the daily patterns and rhythms of our life.

Timeless Healing Principles

By listening to our body and honoring its needs, we nurture our innate healing ability and move closer to experiencing a state of perfect health…

1. Take time each day to quiet your mind and meditate.
2. Each day eat a healthy diet that includes a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.
3. Engage in daily exercise that enhances flexibility, strength, and cardiovascular fitness.
4. Follow a restful sleep routine.
5. Let go of whatever isn’t serving you, including stored emotional pain.
6. Cultivate loving relationships.
7. Find your unique gifts and talents and use them to serve others.

As you nurture yourself and practice the tools of spiritual awakening, you will open your heart to ever expanding levels of fulfillment. Even when you are surrounded by chaos, face a health challenge, or find yourself on a financial “detour,” you will discover that you can transcend outworn assumptions and create a life filled with wellbeing, happiness, and love.

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Leave your thoughts here in my blog.

Share this with others you feel it can benefit.

Niko

The Crazy Ones

Have you seen the Apple computer commercial, "The Crazy Ones"? Very moving. My favorite commercial of all time.

"Here’s to The Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." ~ words of the commercial

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They imagine. They believe. They see. They invent. They create. They explore. They inspire. Yes, they are crazy – how else could they stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?

They are so visionary that they are blind to impossibilities. They see so many solutions that they do not believe in limitations. They have “Yes” faces and “Can do” attitudes. History has shown us that the crazy ones believe so strongly in something not yet tangible that they are even willing to sacrifice their own life to see it come to pass.

What is that I ask? It’s rooted in the human spirit and it’s so deep that it’s beyond words. It’s like love. You cannot define it or contain it or quench it.

I identify with "the crazy ones", they are the ones that move me, the ones that leave an impression on me, they are my heroes. I aspire to be as them, crazy enough to believe that I can change the world.

Good Reminders!

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

When in doubt, just take the next small step.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

Pay off your credit cards every month.

You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

Over prepare, then go with the flow.

Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

The most important sex organ is the brain.

No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’

Always choose life.

Forgive everyone of everything.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Believe in miracles.

God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

Don’t audit life.. Show up and make the most of it now.

Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

Your children get only one childhood.

All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

The best is yet to come…

No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

Yield.

Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

Patrick

Patrick Wayne Swayze
(August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009)

I always felt a connection with Patrick Swayze, perhaps part of it was that he was from Houston (very close to where I grew up). He died thsi week and I feel very sad. I won’t even begin to try to express all the thoughts and feelings I’m having. But I will say… May we enjoy each day for as special as it really is. May we live with no regrets. May we love, feel and give with all of our hearts. And may we be true to who we are and why we are here. Patrick, we will miss you, thank you for all that you gave to us, we will never forget you. Rest in peace.

I invite you to share your thoughts in honor of Patrick.

Niko

3 Principles To Live By

I would like to ask you for your advice.

From your experience in life, share 3 principles you feel we should all live by.

Post them here in my blog so that others can see them and learn from them too!

Niko

Touch

I have been thinking about touch and how it is the most valuable of all the human senses which can be given or received. Why? Because it cannot be duplicated. Sights and sounds can be sent across the internet. Sights, sounds, smells and tastes can be sent through the mail. But touch can only be experienced face to face. An affectionate kiss, the warmth of a hand, the comfort of a loving hug – these cannot be duplicated. It is one of the most sacred things we will ever experience in our life and it is as precious of a commodity as time. Touch is a giftthat we too often withhold and too often shun. I will look for it with more awareness and I will give it more freely.

Other thoughts on this subject…

We live in a world where touch has become more and more rare. We’re afraid of people, germs, dirt, etc. It’s a world we’ve created for ourselves.

I was thinking, my grandfather and I have had hours and hours of talks (more in the last 10 years than before) but the amount of time we have touched is very limited…maybe 10 minutes worth of touching in the last 10 years if I total up all the hugs that occur when we meet up and all the moments when we get close for a photo. That’s absurd! It should not be like this! Even if it’s 30 minutes or if it’s one hour, one hour of touching across 10 years of time?? What lie did we buy into on that one?!?

What if when we are together with our families we held hands more? What if we kissed each other on the cheek more often and not just out of habit but actually with feeling and meaning? What if we held each other in a hug for 1 minute solid instead of the usual quick 3 seconds? I think the reason we don’t is because of pride – fear (what they will think of us) and judgment (what we think of them).

Me and my sister Angela

Today a friend told me “A few weeks ago I was at a friend’s house and we were working out. We were both sweaty and her daughter woke up and came in a saw me and ran up and gave me a huge hug. She did not even pay any attention to the sweat, she did what she felt in that moment. When and why do we lose that!?” We have become so afraid of what people think, it controls our actions. And we have all these cultural codes. All of this makes life more and more sterile and as a result we feel less and less alive, we slowly die inside, our once warm beating hearts become like dry cold stones.

Me and my brother Costa

The good news is that we have the power to change things in our life and if we are breathing then we have the gift of touch. I plan to use that gift more often than ever before.

What do you hate NOT doing?

We’ve all asked ourselves, “What do I really love?” or “What makes me happy?” But I was recently asked “What do you hate NOT doing?” I like that! It’s a great way to find out what you LOVE doing!

What makes you feel dissatisfied, unhappy, irritated, annoyed or off-track if you are not doing it?

What do I hate NOT doing? These were some of my personal answers…

I hate not working out / exercising.

To say I don’t have time to exercise is just stupid because the honest truth is that I don’t NOT have time to exercise. I say that because exercising is TOO important. If I lose my health then what good are so many other things? What good is a great job, a profitable company, a beautiful family – what good are these things to me if I am unhealthy and sick and if I die young simply because I did not take good care of myself. Exercise has so many benefits – energy, longevity, physical appearance, etc.

I hate not working on music.

When I get too busy with working and with “things” and do not work on music, it saddens my soul, it grieves my being. Conclusion? Don’t work on music and slowly become a miserable human being. Or, work on music and be a happy human being. Simple as that. Why is it so black and white for me? Because music is not just something I do, it’s who I am. That’s why. It is not a thing, it’s alive. For me, ignoring music is the equivalent of a man ignoring his wife that he loves with his blood. Why would a man ever do that? It can only be because he has believed a lie, he has somehow become terribly jaded. So, I have to protect myself from all the distractions/lies that take me away from my music that I love with my blood.

I hate not travelling.

When I don’t travel I feel like I’m missing out on one of the most important things in my life. Why? I feel the world in my being and have a need to be in the world. I’m not talking about taking a vacation. I’m talking about being in a place and really BEING THERE. Feeling the people, taking in the landscape, eating the food, listening to the music and language, watching the way people drive and interact and think and speak and act. Soaking up the culture as a whole. I’m the kind of person who will visit one place and stay there for weeks and absorb everything I can. It’s a deep and intense experience for me. It always changes me. It’s broadens my perspective. It reveals mysteries to me. It inspires me – to write, to compose, to travel more, to open up my mind… to live, to love.

I hate not living closer to the people I love – family and friends.

The solution? I suppose it was mentioned in the previous paragraph, I need to travel more! : ) I need to go and see them all more often, meet up more often, create more memories with them, show them how much I love them, let them love me back.

I hate not living closer to water / being closer to water more often.

I live in mountainous area. And it’s beautiful but there is nothing to me like being near the ocean. It does something for me that I should not even try to explain. The solution? Well, I could move, sure, but I don’t feel that that is what I am suppose to do at this particular time in my life, so that means I need to…. you guessed it TRAVEL! : ) Boy, it seems that NOT travelling can have a serious negative domino effect on my life. I better keep a very close on this or else I will one day find myself filled with regret. Nope, I’m not gonna let that happen, I bet you that!

I hate not writing.

For this answer, I’m going to quote the man who asked me this question to start with, Derek Sivers, “There are so many things I’ve learned that I think would help other people. Things I wish someone had told me sooner. Things that have made my life better, brighter, or wiser. I want to tell everyone these things before I die, in a well-explained way so they’re not misunderstood, and easy to pass on to others. And more new ones are added every week. So I have to keep writing to get them all out. Any day I’m not writing, I’m falling further behind in this goal, which I makes me feel worse.”

The good news…

I’m working on changing all these things in my life. What good would it do me to think about them in such detail and write about them and then not have a plan in motion to change them? I have a plan and am carrying it out RIGHT NOW, not tomorrow, TODAY. Today is what I have, THIS moment.

Asking the double-negative seems to be a better indicator of what I really love doing, than asking it in the positive.

Pursue Your Dream (Part I)

The writings I share with you are born out of my personal journey and experiences. My hope is that you will somehow find encouragement in what I share, that it will inspire you to… Pursue Your Dream! ~ Niko

Pursue Your Dream

I encourage you to pursue your dream. Each of us has a free will and the capacity and power to follow after our dream. Most don’t because it usually comes at such a high cost. For some, it has even cost them their lives. But what is life if one does not pursue their God given dream? That unquenchable thing that burns deep within you? I would rather die in pursuit of my passion than to exist in this life doing something that makes me feel miserable and incomplete.

My Personal Journey
Pursuing my dream has required me to remain single thus far. It has required me to make choices about material possessions vs. investing in my dream. It has required just about every single waking minute of the past 11 years of my life and literally hundreds of sleepless nights. It has brought me to my knees weeping on many occasions, crying out to God for strength, courage, patience and wisdom. It has required me to venture into the unknown. To move to places I had never been, starting fresh and new. It has required faith to move mountains, hope to believe for the impossible, humility of a child, a willingness to be teachable to change many things about my perspective and my life – from my diet and social life to my spirituality. It has required me to learn many new skills, some of which have taken years to master and some of which will take many more. It has required me to hold on even when people around me thought I was wrong and even crazy. It has often times required me to disregard my present circumstances and to keep on believing even in the face of absolute contradiction.

Destiny
Pursing your dream is to pursue your passion which is to pursue your destiny! To achieve your destiny is to fulfill your purpose for being here. To fulfill your purpose is to honor God and God’s hope for your life. To honor God with your life each day is the noblest thing you can do, it is the highest form of worship and reverence you can give.

Motivated by Love
One’s dream should always be motivated by love. Anything less, is tainted with selfishness and is not pure. There are no exceptions. To pursue a dream that is rooted in selfishness is not a “true” dream, and the end result will not bring contentment and fulfillment in your life. It will leave you wanting, with a feeling of emptiness. A true dream is a dream that God has placed inside of you, such a dream is always pure and perfect. It is directly linked to the way you are wired, the way you tick, the way your mind works, your personality type, it is linked to the time of the year you were born and even the day, the minute and the second! It is linked to the unique set of gifts that are in you.

And we all have this – we all have a dream inside, we all have a unique set of gifts, we all have a purpose and a destiny. We all have the capacity to walk in love and to live a daily life of thought and action that is based in love. We all can pursue our dream. The only person who can stop you is you. You are your worst enemy. But the good news is that you are also your best friend! You possess the power to be one or the other, you decide in each moment.

Each Day
We are confronted with lies, fear, control and manipulation on a daily basis. That is why each day we must renew our hearts and minds of the truth – that we have a free will and that we can pursue our dream, that we are gifted and unique, and that we can walk in love and fulfill our destiny. It does not happen on its own though. It requires letting go – of pride, selfish desires, judgment, prejudice… It requires forgiving those who have done us wrong, a willingness to give, a willingness to be accountable for our actions, a willingness to seek the heart of God.

Giving
Your dream will always be linked to giving in some shape or form for giving is what life is all about. It is not money that makes the world go round, my friend, it is giving! Who paid for the sun to shine today? And for the oxygen in the air? These are gifts. Take giving out of the equation of life and everything would cease to exist. A mother gives to her newborn or else it could not survive, a father gives to his son by preparing him for manhood so that he will not become a fool and a thief, a friend gives to a friend to lift them up and bless them, a stranger gives to a beggar out of compassion because in their heart they know it could just as well be them on the cold street with no home or food. God gives us seasons and the laws of nature so that food will grow and so that everything can survive and flourish.

And take a moment to look at the intricate details of your hand, the way it works, your fingers and all the joints that move to grab and hold things and how it is all linked to your brain so that you can control it, a masterfully designed gift from God! Who among us paid money for our eyes and ears? Something we cannot even put a price tag on was GIVEN to us while we were in our mother’s womb! Before we could ever even think to work to earn them! A gift! In this manner, our true dream will always be linked to giving.

That does not mean your dream will not bring you wealth, in many cases one’s dream will in fact bring great wealth but you should always remember that great wealth is not for you to hoard up, it is given to you so that you can give to others, so that they can in turn give to others. The film “Pay It Forward” presented such a great principle to live by, I love that film. If you haven’t seen it, watch it, it presents this whole concept of giving in the most compelling and heart touching way.

Be True To Yourself!
This is one of the core foundational principles I encourage people to live by. If you cannot be true to yourself then you will live a lie. If you live a lie then you will NEVER be happy or satisfied in life. Ask yourself, “Who am I?” If you don’t have an answer, then begin the journey of seeking and searching it out. One way to find out who you are is to first find out who you are not! Get out a piece of paper and make two columns, start narrowing it down. If it takes you a month or a year or 10, the day you find the answer will be one of the most liberating moments of your life! You will most likely discover that you are not who everyone else said you were. Everyone has their opinion and idea but what everyone else thinks means nothing! It’s YOUR life and only YOU really know the answer!

If Einstein would have listened to his teachers, he might have never discovered his genius. If the Wright Brothers would have listened to their critics, they would have never flown! If I would have taken over the family business like a good little boy then I would be managing restaurants right now instead of composing music that is being enjoyed and celebrated around the world! So, turn down the noise, get rid of all the distractions and unnecessary obligations in your life (that can be bad relationships, bad habits, etc.), find a quiet place all alone and look deep within yourself. Get face to face with the divine and it is there you will find the answer. (This writing is split into two blog entries, scroll down to read the rest of it!)

Pursue Your Dream (Part II)

My Glass Is Running Over
All my life I have heard the quote, “Do you see the glass half empty or half full?” On the night of August the 20th, 2007, I realized for the first time that I will never again see the glass as half full but rather I will see the glass as running over! In all that I am and in all that I do from now on, I will always see the glass as running over! I will live and see life with a perspective of blessing and abundance. My glass is full and all that runs over from it is for any and everyone who will receive it. For example, the songs I share with the public are but a handful of the songs I compose and sing out while alone in my time of personal communion with God. The Sun The Moon The Stars is what is spilling out of my glass, Illusion, The Exodus, Aliesha Shine, Together Forever Whenever, Kali Spera, these are all spilling out. I encourage you to see life this way, see your glass as running over. Say what you see and you will see what you have said. See the glass running over and it shall be. Jesus taught, Ask, and you will receive. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.

Be Patient
It may be a while before you can see your dream manifest in the physical realm. Perhaps there are some things you need to learn first, some areas in which you need to grow and mature, some obligations you need to take care of. One does not fulfill their dream of becoming a doctor until they complete medical school and go through years of training. One does not perform in an arena until they have practiced thousands of hours while alone and performed in smaller venues. What I am saying is that all of these things you may feel are holding you back from your dream are actually part of it! You cannot get to the top of a ladder at the first step.

Always remember that the journey is as important as the destination! Don’t despise the journey, even if it takes 50 years to arrive at the destination! This has been the case for my manager, John, he has worked and dreamed his whole life to taste and see what is just beginning to manifest before his eyes! Your dream is every day, yes one day you will reach a certain place of accomplishment and you will say, “My dream has finally come to pass!” but then you will only set another dream to achieve, so enjoy the journey. Each step, each day, each moment, no matter how painful or how challenging, enjoy the ride!

On the island of Maui in Hawaii there is a place called Hana, many people hear about Hana and can’t wait to go only to find out that when they arrive, there isn’t really anything there at all! It’s the RIDE to Hana that is magical, it’s the 700 turns in the road, the waterfalls along the way, the fruit trees, the views of the ocean and rainforests! If your goal is only to get to Hana, your arrival will most likely be rather anti-climactic. But if your goal is to enjoy the ride, then you will tell everyone like everyone told you, “You gotta go to Hana!”

My Personal Search
Personally, to become who I really was and to begin fulfilling my dream, I had to “get out of my father’s house”, meaning I had to leave my comfort zone and place of familiarity. Comfort and familiarity breed a certain kind of habitual living, it can be positive or negative, in my case there were many things I needed a clean break away from – people and their ridiculous expectations, organizations and all their absurd rules and regulations, jobs and their monotonous routine, etc.

For me, it was so extreme that I even felt compelled to change my name! I began going by, Odysseus, the Greek version of my middle name. It was so liberating and just downright cool! No one knew me, no one criticized me, no one judged me based on my past. It was just what I needed. I felt empowered as never before to just be ME! The real me! Who I really was! I felt like I could breathe! I let my hair grow long for the first time! I painted my nails black and wore earrings for the first time!! I stayed up composing music all night long over and over!!! I bought 20 boxes of my favorite “unhealthy” cereal and ate them all as fast as I could!!! 10 times, I drove 1000 miles to attend week long teaching seminars all about provoking people to be true to themselves and to fulfill their God given destiny! In all of this, the warrior and artist in me was awakened and I finally began to let go of all my fears – my fear of man and his judgment and criticism, my fear of persecution… for the first time in my life I didn’t care what anybody thought about me except one: God. If God was cool with me, that’s all I needed to know, everyone else could go jump in the lake for all I cared! My canvas was white and I began to paint it just the way I always dreamed it to be! COLORFUL and TRUE!!!

Your Search
For each, it is different. “The Search” certainly does not always involve moving somewhere else but it does always involve doing something different. You can’t do the same thing over and over and expect to get different results. If you mix half water with half juice you will always get the same drink. If you want to discover something you’ve yet to find, then you’ve gotta do something you’ve never ever done before!

Success
Do not measure success by monetary gain or by how others see you, measure the success of each day by whether or not you were true to yourself, by whether or not you walked in love. A day of truth and love is the most successful day any man or woman can ever live. Mother Theresa had few possessions yet undoubtedly lived a very successful life. Life is not about what you’ve got, it’s about what you give.

Be Honest With YourselfI am a person who encourages people to follow their hearts and dreams but it’s necessary that people be honest with themselves. For example, if you do not have a single athletic bone in your body then you might want to reconsider your “dream” of becoming the next Michael Jordan. : ) That’s a fantasy, not a dream. There is a BIG difference between a dream and a fantasy, do not confuse the two. I’ve seen some people in singing competitions on TV who couldn’t even carry a tune, for that person to pursue a singing career is absurd. I always wanted to be an artist (with pencils and paint) but I have NO natural talent for it whatsoever, I can hardly even draw a stick figure! It would be crazy for me to pursue such a thing when it’s blatantly obvious to me that it is not the gift God put in me. I was always fascinated by gymnastics and would have loved to be involved in it. As a matter of fact, the world famous coach Bela Karolyi had his personal training gym not far from my house, but I did not have natural talent for it, it was not my gift.

A Question For You…What is it that you can do effortlessly? Stop and REALLY think about it. Can you write? Can you cook? Are you good with numbers? Good at focusing on one thing all day long? Good at organizing? Good at leading? Are you good with mechanical things and with using your hands? Do you love to be around people? Do you love to travel? Do you speak multiple languages? Do you enjoy reading? Do you love nature? Animals? Are you always thinking of ideas for new businesses? I assure you that the things which come to you so naturally do not come naturally to everyone else. Find out what your gifts are and then start to walk in them and you will naturally begin to fulfill your dreams.

The Time Is Now!
You can change your life today! Now, in a single moment! It’s up to YOU and no one else! It’s your life, your day, your choice! How? With a simple decision. You see, most people think of change in terms of something you can see with your eyes and touch with your hands, and this is true, but FIRST change happens WITHIN! Change is a DECISION. It is not based on external things – it doesn’t matter where you live, how rich or poor you are, how old you are, etc. You are a person, you are beautiful, you are priceless, your life is a gift from God! Decide today that you will BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. Decide today that you will GIVE and always BE MOTIVATED BY LOVE. Decide today that you will FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE! Decide today that you will PURSUE YOUR DREAM! ~ Niko

Vision

I am a man possessed and obsessed with the future, a man of vision. My vision through faith brings me hope and hope drives me to possess and inhabit what I see! I do not focus on the future at the sacrifice of the present, such would be out of balance, it is my vision of the future that helps me to fully live in the moment and the moment that helps me to see the future. The future reveals the power and potential of the present and the present reveals the power and potential of the future, there is a circle, a wheel, and in the center of that wheel I have found him and in him I have found myself and within myself I have found destiny. I write what I see then see what I have written. When a force opposes my vision I do not allow it to blind my eyes. When a contradiction presents itself, I do not consider it, I overcome it with truth. In moments when I feel hopeless, forsaken, or discouraged, I look to the future and find in it a comforting hope, a best friend, a voice of encouragement and affirmation. Without a vision people dwell carelessly. Vision is absolutely necessary if one is to fulfill their unique purpose in life and achieve their destiny. What is my vision? Hope for the hopeless, freedom for the captive, healing for the hurting. Reaching the unreachable and touching the untouchable. Through music, writing, speaking, photography, video, through all forms of media, I will enter the kingdoms of this world and speak a word of hope, shine a ray of light, be a father a brother a friend. I want to show the world the truth of life and love. Vision is one of the primary driving forces of my life, without vision my writings would not exist, my music would have no passion, my photographs and videos would have no meaning, I would never have traveled, I would never have met some of the dearest and most influential people of my life. Vision drives me to explore, to fearlessly go. I will leap out onto nothing and I will find something there. I will leave reasoning and logic behind when necessary. I will take risks. I will let go of all fear and doubt. I will free my mind. I will follow my dreams. This is my life, this is my day, this is my hour, this is my moment and it is a precious gift, I shall not let it slip away.

Nothing To Prove

There is a wonderful principle I have discovered and now seek to live by, I call it “nothing to prove” and it has set me free to simply be myself in each moment without a bunch of disclaimers, without illusions or masks or games, without hidden agendas or ulterior motives, without comparison and competition. All of this I have left far behind me, I now seek to thrust out forward in love as raw and genuine as possible – Niko – with nothing to prove.

It has set me free in my music. It has set me free in my writing. It has set me free to make mistakes. It has set me free to simply be who I am without always feeling like I have to explain or justify myself. With nothing to prove there’s never a need to show anything off nor is there ever a need to put anything extra on! Having “to prove” takes emphasis off of me just being who I am and puts it on me trying to prove who I am. Me being who I am vs. me trying to prove who I am are two very different things. When I catch myself trying to prove something, I always feel selfish, dissatisfied, even captive to something shallow and cheap. But when I seek to simply be who I am, I feel freedom and a free flow, no fear! Let me share a few examples from my own life…

I Am Who I Am – When I’m with someone who is sharing their perspective on something I view differently, I no longer feel like I HAVE to speak up for the purpose of letting them know I disagree. I simply remind myself that I am who I am and that I have nothing to prove and with that I am able to keep my mouth shut. There are certain times when I do speak but there are many more times when wisdom keeps me silent. I once saw silence as a statement of agreement but now I know that is not true. My silence may at times be interpreted as agreement but I will not let such a thing make me feel obligated to speak for I am who I am no matter what another’s conclusions are of me, if I never speak again I still am who I am.

Expressions – Nothing to prove has encouraged me countless times while sharing my music in situations where I was limited by things such as poor equipment, time restraints, no back up instruments. I never let those things stop me or make me feel like I had to explain how much better I could sound if. . .I simply sang with what I had to work with at that moment, no self disclaimers, no sound apologies. And while I may have only been able to shine in shades of black and white, there were still unique color combinations in each of those moments. In all that I do, I simply give it my best and with nothing to prove I always find rest. In my writing, Nothing To Prove has set me free to be fresh, funny, unique, expressive, creative, crazy, even risky! I simply seek to be who I am, I set aside all outside expectations and look within myself for how and what to write. I abandon all rules rooted in fear and doubt to be guided by the only rule I seek to live by – Truth. Since I have nothing to prove, I am not seeking to impress anyone and since I am not seeking to impress anyone then my audience just as well be everyone as much as no one. While I sometimes write to man, I never write for man. In writing to man and not for man I eliminate both the pleasure of his approval and the pain of his rejection and find a perfect and complete balance in the tender unfailing arms of my Love.

Silence – Nothing to prove has helped me remain silent in moments when I have been wrongfully judged, terribly misunderstood, and even betrayed. I have sought to be who I am and allow time to reveal truth to those who were open to listen. If one or all choose to believe a lie concerning me, I fear not for it can never change the truth of who I really am. If I am misunderstood, it may challenge me but it shall not change me except possibly teach me to try to be more clear. If I am betrayed I am non the less than more for humbly enduring such a dark deed. Nothing To Prove has kept me silent in the presence of foolish words. I learned such sound wisdom from one of my favorite books – Proverbs. 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

Free Flow – Living in a FREE FLOW, that’s what Nothing To Prove is ALL about! If someone cannot perceive me through my simple daily free flow, I no longer seek to try and prove my gifts, abilities, knowledge, or future. I do not speak of a past success story, a future dream, or an experience that will make them somehow see me or respect me or admire me, no, I seek to flow, for me every moment in life is all about freely flowing, it’s about me just being me, always seeking to excel expand grow and progress and just be my unique self in the process. I see myself as water and if someone chooses not to drink of me why shall I seek to wet their lips with planned out “to prove” methods? That gets too complex, I have discovered such beautiful simplicity in the “free flow”, it’s the only true method for me. I have concluded that: I am who I am, respected or disrespected, understood or misunderstood, embraced or rejected, praised or persecuted, I have nothing to prove. If a person can’t see me, I’m not interested in trying to pry their eyes open. Likewise, if I can’t see another person, maybe we just need sometime.

Falling To Rise – Free to make mistakes? Ah, yes, nothing to prove has set me free to be the seeker that I am and take risks and make mistakes in the process. Let me say – Not free to be foolish, not free to have no accountability, not free to have no borders or boundaries but, yes, free to fly further than I’ve ever flown and sometimes crash in the process. I am a man who believes that love is all, undoubtedly yes, but I do not remain in known territory in fear that I might fly too far out and shatter some lovely track record. With pure motives and intentions I boldly set out in search of greater heights, deeper depths, fresh territory! So I float out into new waters sometimes having my ship crashed with waves so ugly and cold but also discovering warm beauty untold! In the scale of it all I am rising, realizing, becoming who I know I am and desire to be – a man after my Love’s own heart.

Humility – For me, nothing to prove is about humility. It’s about unpriding myself after years of pride programming in a world that primarily revolves on one act of pride after another, a world of selfish systems that survive on what is seemingly so sweet yet clearly destined to choke on its own bitter vomit. It’s about me conquering my selfish human nature to claim victory on the battlefield of my mind in the most challenging war I have ever fought – love vs. selfishness – which one will win in every moment is up to me, if I am wise I will fight for what I know is true and let love fly its flag high from the castle of my heart.

Vision – Although I am not presently walking in all of that which I have written, I believe that if I write what I see then I will see what I have written and this gives me the freedom to express as I do. I am a man possessed and obsessed with the future, a man of vision. My vision through faith brings me hope and hope drives me to possess and inhabit what I see! Tomorrow is a comforting assurance today for tomorrow speaks to me of rising when I have fallen today, tomorrow is my best friend today for tomorrow speaks to me of a joyous shout when I am sorrowfully silent today. Tomorrow is my bright hope when today I feel dark despair. I look forward to tomorrow for it is my rescue line of answer when I’m stuck in a moment of question today. While today I may walk in hate I have hope for I’ve seen that tomorrow holds a love I will run with! Today my heart may pant and bleed but tomorrow it will boldly beat a drum so loud the world will hear!

Tomorrow – It takes hope to believe in tomorrow and tomorrow to have hope for if I have no hope then I have no tomorrow, likewise if I have no tomorrow then I have no hope. And if I need faith and vision to see tomorrow then without faith and vision I am hopeless. “Perfect love casts out all fear” and if fear must be cast out for me to have faith then only perfect love can set me free to believe and hope and see tomorrow! Once again I see that that to understand love is to understand all things. “Tomorrow”? It means many things. You must define it as you see it, but one thing it undoubtedly speaks of to us all is the future, tomorrow is ALL about the future and what it holds. For me, tomorrow is everything from the next 24 hour time span to my vision of the next decade to my eternal existence. What does tomorrow hold that would make me speak as I do? I see much light love and truth. I see hope for the hopeless, freedom for the captive. I see healing for the hurting. I see myself reaching the unreachable and touching the untouchable. I see a reason to live, a reason to give, I see something worth giving all of myself to, that’s how important tomorrow is to me! – Niko

No Limitations

If I could convince you that there weren’t ANY LIMITATIONS and you knew for a fact it was absolutely true, what would you throw out? What mindsets and thinking patterns would you cease to embrace? What media programs would you stop watching? What books would you burn? What places would you stop going? What people would you stop associating with? What job would you quit? What drugs would you stop taking? What opinions, ideas and philosophies would you crucify? Now, considering that there are no limitations, how do you see yourself? How do you see the world? How do you see your music if you are a musician? How do you see your writings if you are a writer? How do you see your patients if you are a doctor? How do you see your students if you are a teacher? How do you see your baked goods if you are a baker? How do you see your new business if you are an entrepreneur? How do you see your family and friends and children? How do you see your future? and mine? The truth is that such does exist. There is a place where one can walk and live, a place that knows NO LIMITATIONS. And if you diligently seek after it, you will find it. You can know who you REALLY are and go where you were created to go. Destiny is yours if you want it. You can have deep satisfaction and genuine happiness. You can see tomorrow while living in today. Limitations only exist in the minds of those who choose to embrace fear and doubt. Truth’s sword prevails over all darkness, it is truth that can set you free, it is truth that knows no limitations. If you can see it then you can enter it and become it!